Social structure as a form of collective intelligence
In our framework, we argue that social structure is a form of collective intelligence shaped by and shaping individual decision-making
Out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org w/ J Brooker, E van Leeuwen royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
Great tit perched on a branch, with beak slightly open. Photo credit: Alizée Vernouillet
📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us:
🐦 Quantifying (social) learning and social behaviour in an urbanised world 🐦
Position at @ceec-research.bsky.social
📆29th May deadline
More info: tinyurl.com/yz28s96x
Apply: tinyurl.com/2wpkb64y
#cognition #socialbehaviour #fieldwork #birds
🙏Please Share
Claudia Fichtel (@kirindy.bsky.social) is offering a two-year Postdoc position to study social cognition in wild lemurs at the Kirindy Forest Research Station
www.dpz.eu/karriere/ste...
Finally, Julia Fischer (@julxf.bsky.social) at the @primatenzentrum.bsky.social is looking for a motivated field research assistant to join her team at the Simenti Field Site in Senegal to study Guinea baboons
www.dpz.eu/karriere/ste...
Zebra finches in Australia; one of the study organisms for the PhD
Dwarf mongoose staring at a camera in South Africa; one of the PhD study organisms
📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us
❓Quantifying animal #movement patterns & behavioural #interactions in a changing world
👥Joint position in @bristolbiosci.bsky.social & #MacquarieUniversity
📆19th April deadline
tinyurl.com/343acaev
#maths #modelling #data #fieldwork #Australia
🙏PLEASE SHARE
Figure from manuscript illustrating distributions of rates of aggression for each group by each species. It shows there's much overlap, but the most and least aggressive groups seems distinct. Caption from MS: Fig. 6. Posterior sample distributions for the group intercepts for aggression. (A) shows distribution for total aggression, and (B) shows distribution for contact aggression only. Black lines reflect a 95% CI.
What I find particularly striking is the within-species between-group variation in rates of observed aggression...
#BioAnth 🧪
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
New great paper from my friends and colleagues‼️
Pan species may be more similar than previously thought... 👀
Congrats @emilebryon.bsky.social on your first 1st authored paper 👏🍻
Check it out👇
Can't believe the Culture Conference 2026 is already finished!
I am happy and proud to have organised it in Utrecht 2 years in a row with my colleagues and friends from the PriCog team 🙌 and I hope the attendees and presenters enjoyed it as much as we did 🎉
See you next year in a new location 👋
What a pre-conference workshop on Bayesian statistical methods—a powerful toolkit for our community! 📊
Many thanks to Daniel Redhead and Ramona Roller for guiding us through STRAND and to Michael Chimento for the introduction to STbayes.
And thank you to all participants for their energy! 🙌
#Postdoc #Job opportunity in #AnimalBehaviour with Jorg Massen at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social. Check out the position here: www.uu.nl/en/organisat...
The Culture Conference 2026 is already starting next week! 🥳
If you plan to attend in-person, please register ‼️before Sunday 22/02‼️
We are almost full, so don’t wait 😊
Online registration will remain open 💻
See you next week in Utrecht 🌇
To register:👇
culture-conference.com/registration/
The Culture Conference 2026 programme is out! 🎉
From keynotes to talks and posters, we are excited to share a diverse and interdisciplinary lineup. A big thank you to all contributors.
With the conference coming up in two weeks, we’re very much looking forward to welcoming you in Utrecht 🙌
If you want to get hands-on experience using STBayes, come join the Culture Conference workshop, animated by @mchimento.bsky.social!
👉 culture-conference.com/workshop/
New blog post!!🚨
Michael Chimento gives an overview of the new R package STbayes, designed for creating, fitting and understanding Bayesian models of social transmission 🌍 🧪
Read the blog here 👇
Join us for a few drinks in Utrecht just before the conference! 🙌🍻
Happy New Year from the Culture Conference organisers 🎉 We wish you a year filled with kindness, curiosity, and fruitful research.
We still have a few spots available for presentations. Feel free to send us your abstract if you’d like to share your work with us in February!
Registrations are now open 📢 Want to join the conference and/or the workshop? Head to our website: culture-conference.com/registration/
As every year, attendance at the conference is free 🎉 (the workshop has a small fee).
Reminder: Abstract submission closes soon—submit yours before Monday!
Still 10 days to submit your abstract 👇👇
‼️Reminder‼️
5 days left to submit an abstract and come present your work in Utrecht in February for the Culture Conference 2026!
👇
🔔 New paper out on Social evaluation of skill and competence in primates
@mariehirel.bsky.social, @williamohearn.bsky.social and @julxf.bsky.social made this happen
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Come join this exciting workshop on social network analysis and social transmission, all within a Bayesian framework!! 💻
And many thanks to @danielredhead.bsky.social and @mchimento.bsky.social for conducting it, I'm looking forward 🤩
More information below 👇
Come and join our lab! We have TWO fully funded PhD positions AND a paid field assistant opportunity in our Behavioral Ecology group @uni-goettingen.de & @primatenzentrum.bsky.social. Projects will be part of @rtg2906-curiosity.bsky.social & @sfb1528.bsky.social!!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
Excited to present next year among this wonderful group!
Last keynote announcement: Dr. Taylor Hersh!
She explores how animal communication varies over space and time, with a particular focus on cetacean social communication and the cultural processes that shape group-specific vocal traditions.
Discover her research here 👉 taylorhersh.weebly.com
Meet our 3rd keynote: Dr. Erin Wessling!
Her work connects research on Pan behavioural ecology with conservation practice, with a focus on understanding and protecting chimpanzee cultures.
Learn more about Erin’s work 👉 erinwessling.com
2nd keynote!
Dr. Sabine Nöbel, from Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg!
She studies how socially learned mating preferences spread and persist across generations in Drosophila and explores the evolutionary consequences of animal culture.
Discover her work: sabinenoebel.wordpress.com
‼️SAVE THE DATE‼️
We are excited to welcome you again in Utrecht, NL for the next Culture Conference on the 26th & 27th of February 2026!
And surprise! We will also host a hands-on workshop on the 25th/02 🙌💻
So stay tuned for future announcements here & on the website 🔎
culture-conference.com